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God of War (comics)
"And having so recently defeated Ares to become the god of war, Kratos believed his tortured nightmares would come to an end. But, as he was to learn, they were only beginning..." ''-Narrator DC/Wildstorm presents the game-to-comic graphic novel in a monthly 6 part series beginning in March 2010. The story arc depicts Kratos' childhood, his rise through the Spartan Army and the actual events leading to his path of becoming the God of War. Set after God of War I, Kratos is on a mission to find the God of Healing, Asclepius, and relieve him of Ambrosia, a talisman of limitless healing capabilities. Issues First Issue (March, 2010) We find Kratos, currently the new God of War, hacking his way through waves of hellspawn minotaurs getting in the way of his quest for the Ambrosia at the base of its keep, the place of Asclepius, the God of medicine and healing. The narration however, tells the reader that this is not the first time Kratos had searched for the item, nor was it the first time he obtained it. A flashback details the days of his childhood, going through the test of fitness and his year of survival in the wild to prove his worthiness to the Spartan creed. His return marks his swift rise through the ranks of the Spartan army and showcases his loyalty to the law and council. His ascension to the rank of General coincides with the pregnancy of his wife, Lysandra, to whom we see an even deeper compassion from Kratos than his loyalty for the king. When Kratos and Lysandra's child, Calliope, is born, she has a skin disease and therefore deemed too weak; the child is sentenced to be sacrificed. When calling for a healer, he informs Kratos of the Ambrosia and sets him on his initial journey. The King's Guards, carrying out the Spartan law, intend to take the child for sacrifice, but Kratos, as their General, commands them not to, until his return, promising the King that when he will have the Ambrosia, they will be able to cure the diseased and thus increase the numbers of the Spartan army. Kratos is then given a deadline; return to Sparta by the next moon, with the Ambrosia, or lose his child to Spartan law. Elsewhere, on Mount Olympus, the Gods are plotting a wager. Each God has decided to choose a mortal champion to be a vessel for their sport, the last alive becoming the victor. The final champion standing, will earn his God the right to have temples and statues erected in their honour across the land. Ares, Hades, Poseidon, Hermes, Artemis, and Helios all believe their champion to become the ultimate victor. Ares and Hades however, are the only two to divulge the identity of their champions. Both feel tremendously overconfident with their choice; Ares choosing the young Spartan General Kratos, with seething hatred trapped beneath his eyes, and Hades choosing the emotionless Alrik, the Barbarian Prince. The competition seems like a friendly wager between family, but Hades plans to use all his Godly influence to win... The story flashes forward back to Kratos, The God of War, in search of the item and facing against colossal, eight-legged opposition... The Giant Arachnid. Second Issue (May, 2010) Confronting the Gigantic Arachnid as the newly crowned God of War, Kratos demanded to know the beast's origins. "Who sent you to kill me?! Speak, wretched beast! Tell me!". Blinded with rage, Kratos vanquished the Spider effortlessly, without ever knowing its master's name. With the path on his quest to find the Ambrosia once again cleared, Kratos noticed the reflection of the embering torch in his foe's many eyes, reminding him of Hades' Phoenix that he vanquished on his first quest for the healing elixir of the Gods. Seeing the confrontation unroll before his very eyes, in a time before his allegiance to Ares, God of War, Kratos was reminded of his true allegiance; that to his family and his king. As Kratos did not always fight to end lives, but once sought to protect them, his superior in the Spartan army, Captain Nikos, reminded him of how the Ambrosia was to be used for the good of all Sparta, and not just Calliope. Enraged by the very thought that Nikos tried to keep Kratos in his place, he replied, through gritted teeth, how ''"the King's word is law. As always." During that time, in another part of Greece, Alrik returned to his sick father's tent and confronted the healer for a cure. The healer told the Barbarian Prince how voices informed him of the Ambrosia's existence, its powers, and how other people were in search of the Ambrosia as well. At the same time, Kratos and the Spartan warriors bravely fought a group of Satyrs. Witnessing the warriors' quests for Ambrosia, the Gods on Mount Olympus boasted how their chosen champion would be the one to win their wager. Herodius, from the village of Thera, had a plague placed upon his people by Poseidon, thus forcing him to begin the search for the Ambrosia. A tall, battle-weathered, brute of a man, with long black hair swept over his face, Herodius sported several tattoos, as well as a ball and chain in each hand as his weapons of choice. Herodius' army, in possession of a ship, found themselves the unwilling target of Kratos' Spartan army, as they needed a ship to continue their journey. The two forces clashed mercilessly, with the Spartans emerging victorious. With Kratos and Herodius left standing face to face, and none to back up the Theran, his height proved an admirable advantage over the Spartan, standing one foot taller. Pummeling Kratos with every attack he made, Herodius ultimately stood over Kratos' seemingly breathless body, proclaiming "...your battle is selfish, for you fight for only one life, while I fight for the lives of many!". Continuing his lecture, Herodius however, did not notice Kratos was indeed alive and conscious, as he slowly began reaching for his sword. In one swift blow, Kratos split Herodius' head clean down the middle. Kratos, picking himself up afterward, continued to set sail for the island of Leucas, with an attitude that made the battle seem to have passed effortlessly. With the death of his champion, Poseidon, fueled by hatred, broke the first rule of the Gods' wager, intervening in the quest of a chosen warrior, as the God of the Sea set forth the full force of the ocean, unleashing his Leviathans on the tiny ship. After a vicious battle, the few left alive rejoiced in their good fortune. All but Kratos, who knew a God would not give up so easily. No sooner had he distributed the orders for all to cling to the floating debris, as a whirlpool opened up below them, sucking them down the depths of the ocean, with the light of day slowly disappearing from their view. Third Issue (July, 2010) Continuing the memory of his first quest for the Ambrosia, Kratos and his Spartans plummets into the mouth of the whirlpool, he beholds an enormous Sea Snake rising from below. Acting on instinct, he launched from the walls and dispatched the beast as easily as it came. Realising Posiedon's Snake must have come from somewhere, Kratos and his men dive deeper into the depths to find where it came from and hopefully dry salvation. Deeper and deeper they swam til Kratos actually considered giving in to death's grasp until a speck of sunlight came to vision. The Spartans furiously swam for the ray of hope and surfaced in a cave, a cave containing more than they realised at the time. Refocusing from thoughts of the past, Kratos, the newly crown God of War, stands before the defeated Spider and discovers Athena at his back urging him to end his quest. She warns of dangers ahead, things powerful enough even to fall a God, yet Kratos does not scare easily. He sheaths his burning blades and strides into the caverns in spite of Athenas warning, showing little concern for what is about to come. Kratos remembers the last time he walked these caverns and the fact that he had his men on his heels and conscious. The quest to save his daughter was the only thing on his mind and it showed by his steady and un-wavering pace. Yet his men, including Captain Nikos, were not of the same stamina as the future God of War, they needed rest, clean water and a leader that led with as much wisdom and compassion as he did with steel and fist. Kratos did not have time for this. The arguing over the matter, however, was heard by another posse in the cave. The Champion of Artemis, Pothia and leader of her Amazonian Tribe called The Warriors of the Hunt, overheard the petty squabblings of men and recognised the marked one as Kratos from Sparta. Her female warriors have recently fallen infertile and with no children their race will die out, so to kill afew Spartans to save an entire race seems in her choice. The two armies clash, man vs woman, soldier vs warrior, with Kratos and Pothia in the centre exchanging evenly matched blows. To the east, two more armies are meeting in battle. Prince Alrik's forces are edging closer to his goal of the Ambrosia hindered only by Danaus, Champion of Hermes and his pitchforked followers. The two waves of warriors collide and before Danaus can finish his threat of defeat, Alrik decapitaes him with haste. Alrik and his men ride on without even breaking speed. Back in the cavern, Pothia adopts a new tactic attempting to seduce Kratos. He see's right through this and after toying with her advances long enough, swiftly cuts her in two. He turns to find his men have won their half of the battle but at great losses yet wastes no time in ordering to carry on. They surface onto a great desert and the threat of their mortality looms of the remaining Spartans as the heat belts down on them. The God of War reaches the end of the cavern and surfaces onto the desert he and his men came across so many years before. Athena again appears and urges The Ghost of Sparta to give up this quest for the Nectar of the Gods. Kratos defies Athena, attesting that no one alive can defeat him! But that is just her point, it is the dead he must fear. This concept confuses Kratos and Athena is gone before an explanation is gained. Kratos trudges on, reaching an oasis which seems vaguely familiar. The earth beneath him parts to reveal burning corpses crawling their way out, the corpses of his men from his first quest seekng revenge for being abandoned by their leader. It is the dead he must fear... Fourth Issue (September, 2010) The God of War's second quest for the Ambrosia is halted by his own Spartan Army; they are no longer human, though, but vengeful, zombified versions of their former loyal selves. With his Blades at the ready, Kratos gives them a chance to back down, which they aggressively decline, and with one fell swoop of the Blades of Chaos, he diminishes their ranks by half. While Kratos is focused on the remaining half, the Zombie Captain Nikos approaches from behind and stabs Kratos in the back, as he believes Kratos did to them. As darkness closed in on Kratos, his mind drifted to years before... Kratos and his men trudge through the vast desert, carrying a wounded Captain Nikos towards the Ambrosia of Asclepius, while Hades watches from Olympus above. Bitter that Ares' Champion may stand a chance at winning the wager over his own choice, Hades decides its time to take matters into his own hands. The sky above the Spartans grows darker, then opens in a blaze of underwordly flames raining magma on top of the defenseless soldiers. Captain Nikos sacrifices his life to save Kratos from a massive flaming downpour. The sky closes and all is calm again, while half the Spartans are now ash on the sand. Captain Nikos' dying words in Kratos' arms is the passing of the Captain's rank onto him followed with the reminder that the lives of his men are his responsibility now. It is no longer a solo quest, and it is no longer just Calliope's life in his hands. From the cliffs above the sprawling desert, Alrik and his men watch the Spartans bury the former Captain and discuss their plan. They change their plan, however, as they see another Champion in the quest approaching from the other side of the desert. However, unlike all the other Champions, this one is alone, has a glowing aura, and is moving at god-like speed. The barbarians decide to hold back and allow the two forces to lead them to the Ambrosia, let them battle it out and take the Ambrosia from the weakened victorious warrior. The Spartans reach the Spire of Asclepius and Kratos tells his men to wait at the entrance while he continues alone. Deep inside the Spire is a massive body of water with a small island in the center. The Island is covered with foliage and trees with one large, glowing tree in the center, the tree that bears the Ambrosia. Kratos makes his way to the tree and begins squeezing the juice out of all the fruit on the branches till his water bladder is full. His quest is almost at an end, he has kept his promise. At this point, however, the trees around him engulf in flames! Kratos turns to see the warrior that the barbarians witnessed moving at great speed earlier. This warrior engages in battle with Kratos to capture the Ambrosia for his own purposes, commanding the element of fire like he was the God of the Sun. He then actually does reveal himself as Helios' Champion in the quest for the Ambrosia. This adversary presents a great threat with all his abilities for the mere mortal, Kratos, who did not hesitate to go into battle regardless. The Spartan only got the upper hand when he tackled the flame-wielder into the water below, extinguishing the flames and drowning Helios' chosen. The battle-weathered Kratos reunites with his army, who notice the charging barbarian forces at the base of the Spire... The God of War opens his rage-filled eyes and refocuses on the Undead Spartans surrounding him. Standing defiant in the face of death, he removes the blade from his back and impales the Zombie Nikos, ripping him in two, screaming, "Those who are dead should stay that way!" With the defeat of the Zombie Nikos, the remaining Undead Spartans fall to dust and Kratos continues on his second quest for the Ambrosia. He arrives at the Island within the Spire to find that everything is still burnt and decimated after all these years, except for the Ambrosia Tree. He makes his way along the path, not realising many eyes opening up as he passes through the trees, and they are now watching his every move. He is within reach of the Ambrosia when the ground opens up to bear row upon row of teeth! The Island has transformed into a hungry beast that has been waiting for Kratos' return. The God of War dangles from a burnt tree root above an ivory, gnawing doom... Fifth Issue (November, 2010) Kratos and Alrik clash for the first time in an epic battle! But the outcome will weigh terribly on Kratos and come back to haunt him years later as the greatest threat to the God of War's mission is about to be revealed. This tale spins out of the Sony videogame God of War III. Sixth Issue (January, 2011) ''In this dynamite conclusion, Kratos faces his greatest test to date – the behemoth Gyges, the living island! This massive foe stands between Kratos and ultimate success. '' http://uk.comics.ign.com/articles/112/1128596p1.html Trivia *Deimos hasn't been mentioned in any of the issues released as yet, not in the part dealing with Kratos' upbringing as a child, nor in the Spartan law concerning weak and strong children. Category:God of War Series Category:God of War (Comics) Category:Other Media